Messages

Also, I'm wondering if it isn't time to spin off Clockwork Alchemy to a separate organization/badge system/weekend...whether it's true or not, there's been the impression that CA is using up Fanime's resources. It's been a little disconcerting to see the CA portion of the website ready WAY before Fanime on the combined website. The AnimeCons people have disqualified Fanime from the most-attended cons list due to suspecting that Fanime shares attendance with CA. In any case, it does cut into the availability of hotels.

I've heard the opposite complaint. There are people who want combined Fanime/Clockwork Alchemy/BayCon registration.

Clockwork Alchemy has its own resources. Everyone, including the con chair, is unpaid. All those elaborate props are built by volunteers. After four years of CA, and some previous steampunk cons, we now have a lot of props. Many steampunks are makers, after all.  We have fun overdoing that. Our directional signs are antique lampposts. We have big clocks on tall posts. Our author's room has a (fake) fireplace and shelves of books.  The tea room has a large Tea Engine making boiling water.  I'm behind the Telegraph Office and its brass machinery. We don't get any funding from CA, just staff badges or volunteer hour credits. All this may give the impression that CA is draining Fanime's resources, but it's not. (I admit that we're trying to get the Fanime side to up their game on signs and ambiance.)

It's hard to tell about attendance. Some people registered for CA thinking that was needed for badge pickup at the Doubletree. It's not; anyone can pick up their badge at either location. Which con you register for just determines the badge artwork you get. So nobody really knows how many people went primarily to CA vs Fanime.

At CA, Friday was too empty but had full programming, Saturday was busy, and Sunday was busier. Some Fanime members complained that Fanime didn't have enough to do on Friday. Fanime members, please come over to CA on Friday. There's stuff to see and do. It's not overcrowded. We have tea. (And water. The Doubletree is really good about putting water dispensers all over the place. We had a least a dozen of them.)

Mixing Fanime and Clockwork Alchemy has its amusing moments.  CA had Congress of Vienna, a very good classical quintet (harp, violin, viola, flute, and lute) playing. They're all Sword Art Online cosplayers, with Asuna on the harp, mixing classical music with anime themes.

DARPA Humanoid Robot Challenge Finals are on today. Live streaming video.

Humanoid robots aren't just in anime any more. They're real.

[Might be a problem.]

I'm no lawyer, but isn't there a difference between "Imitation Firearm" and "Prop weapon?" e.g., if you make a toy based on an M-16 or an AR-15 that's an imitation firearm, but if you paint a Nerf weapon brown and silver, does that mean it's a prop weapon and doesn't fall under these regulations? The news article linked even uses the term "certain replica guns."

Sec. 12550: "Imitation firearm" means any BB device, toy gun, replica of a firearm, or other device that is so substantially similar in coloration and overall appearance to an existing firearm as to lead a reasonable person to perceive that the device is a firearm." So if it looks like a gun...


Might be a problem.

About the water...You do know California is facing a severe drought right?

Fanime may have an obligation to provide free water. See Food and Agricultural Code (Concert and Music Festival Safety Act) sec. 11000.10. That law is aimed at big raves and music festivals, and applies to any event with over 10,000 people on state property.

Next year, all fake guns have to be brightly colored. The new California law takes effect January 1, 2016.

CA penal code sec. 20175, permitted colors for fake guns: "The entire exterior surface of the imitation firearm is white, bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, bright pink, or bright purple, either singly or as the predominant color in combination with other colors in any pattern, or the entire device is constructed of transparent or translucent material that permits unmistakable observation of the device's complete contents. Merely having an orange tip as provided in federal law and regulations does not satisfy this requirement. The entire surface must be colored or transparent or translucent."

Over at Clockwork Alchemy, Thursday was devoted to setting up all the steampunk props. We have a tea room, a telegraph office, lamp posts, clocks, signs, even a fireplace. Load-in and setup is all volunteer, so we're busy moving heavy things, unpacking them, and making them work.

Friday, Clockwork Alchemy had a full day of programming, but too few attendees. If Fanime is slow on Friday, come on over to Clockwork Alchemy. We have lots of room, lots of activities, and tea.

[National Weather Service forecast for Fanime]

National Weather Service forecast for Fanime
As of 0000 Thursday May 21:

Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a temperature falling to around 57 by 3pm. Light and variable wind becoming northwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Thursday night,  a 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a temperature falling to near 54 by 10pm, then rising to around 66 during the remainder of the night.  North northwest wind 3 to 7 mph. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Friday:  A 20 percent chance of showers before 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 66. Light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 10 mph in the morning. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Friday night, mostly cloudy, with a low around 54. West southwest wind 5 to 7 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 69. Saturday night, partly cloudy, with a low around 53.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 71. Sunday night, mostly clear, with a low around 53.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. Monday Night, partly cloudy, with a low around 53.

(Short version: some drizzle Thursday and Friday, then nice Saturday and Sunday.)

[National Weather Service forecast for Fanime]

National Weather Service forecast for Fanime
Update, as of 10 PM Tue May 19th.

Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers after 9am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 65. North northwest wind 8 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 54. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the evening. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 66. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Friday Night, A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 54.
Saturday: A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 69. Saturday Night: A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 71. Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 52.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 71. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 52.

[National Weather Service forecast for Fanime]

National Weather Service forecast for Fanime
As of 10 PM Sun May 17th.

Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 67.
Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52.
Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 69.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52.
Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 71.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 52.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 72.

This Fanime will be chillier than usual. Be prepared for cold nights.

When all else fails, there's Calorie Mate Balanced Food Block.

It's humanoid chow from Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Tokyo. Popular with Japanese salarymen. Appears in Metal Gear Solid 3. Nijiya Market stocks these in several flavors, along with Pocky and canned beverages from Japan.

There's a Fanime Facebook page, a Fanime Twitter feed, and a Fanime news page. They each have quite different news items.

There's also a Fanime API which returns news in JSON format, perhaps for phone apps. Same content as the Fanime news page. (There's no Fanime app to use that info, as far as I know.)

The new maps are nice. Helpful and clear.

Announcements could be preceded by Tokyo train station melodies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RgI5x6fStY

Will there be any peace bonding stations at Clockwork Alchemy? I was planning on picking up my badge there and figured it'd be easier to get my prop peace bonded there instead of going to Fanime.

Yes, there will be a peace-bonding station at Clockwork Alchemy, and peace-bonding there is valid for Fanime. (I asked the CA con chair). Ask any of the Bobbies (CA's Rovers) or at any info desk for directions.

Here's last year's discussion on signs at Fanime.

This year, will the shuttle bus stop be in front of the convention center, around the corner at the Hilton's drive-up lobby, or somewhere else? Signs would help.

[Small steam engine]

Small steam engine About 4" x 7".

Each year, I do some new props for Clockwork Alchemy. Here's one for 2015.

Steampunk conventions need more steam engines. So I put this together. It's a toy engine from the 1930s, made by Wilesco. They're still made. Originally it came with a boiler and smokestack, and ran on little fuel pellets. I got this one cheap, with the boiler broken. It was mostly flimsy sheet metal, but the engine parts were well made. So I re-mounted the machinery on a heavy brass plate, then put that on a piece of walnut.

The engine will run on steam, but live steam is too much for CA. So I use a small aquarium air pump, which provides just enough air pressure to make the engine run, slowly.

We can still use a few fill-in volunteer messengers so our regular staff can take breaks.  If you want to put in an hour or so on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday between 10 AM and 6 PM, let us know your schedule. Cosplay with steampunk outfits encouraged but not required. Post here, or mail "[email protected]". Thanks.

At least two people on the waitlist for the Doubletree got messages from Fanime housing today. The waitlisted reservations were accepted and confirmed.

Come over and visit Clockwork Alchemy! We have tea!

CA has a lot going on, more than last year. There's a lot to do; martial arts, airship races, LARPs, fashion show, musicians... It's a change of pace from Fanime. There's a free shuttle bus and registration covers both Fanime and CA.

Just curious, does anyone know how long it took the shuttle to go from the CC to say the Doubletree?  I heard some horror stories last year that it was taking an hour because they were using a really convoluted route.

In 2012, using full sized buses on the freeway and a direct route, it took 7 minutes of travel time.
In 2013, using parking shuttle buses with drivers who were totally lost, it took 45 minutes. Riders got a tour of the Sharks Stadium parking lots and the railroad yards.
In 2014, the parking shuttle drivers didn't get lost, but the CC to the Doubletree route went by the Fairmont, so it took about 15 minutes.